One of the most exciting parts of my moving to San Francisco was my ability to take part in Atlassian Summit 2010. Last year I attended as a customer and this year I was absolutely honoured to attend this year as an Atlassian employee.

This years event was a total success. Over 550 customers, partners and Atlassian attended this year which was almost double the number of last years event. It was held on 3 floors of the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel in downtown San Francisco. There were countless presentations, talks, product demos and interactions with customers.

Prior to the event some of the Atlassian staff from the US, Europe, Australia and Brazil gathered at Ocean Beach for an amazing bonfire by sunset. The weather quickly turned cold and I was the only guy wearing shorts and sandals, guess you can tell I’m Canadian!

Wednesday started off with Atlassian Starter Day which I was able to watch the entirety of. It was an opportunity for customers to watch presentations by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, Glenn Kelman of Redfin, Steve Ginsberg of Pandora and many others. The day was packed with great talks and really resonated with me considering I’ve spent pretty much all of my professional career working at start-up companies.

In the evening was the Summit Reception, where customers are partners would register and meet over free drinks and browse the partner pavilion. It was a great introduction to the event and also an awesome opportunity to interact with customers from across the globe. I was able to meet people from Australia, Norway, the UK and even Canada!

That night was the second incarnation of the infamous Firewater Party. Last year the guys from Appfire threw an amazing party and this year they totally outdid themselves. They managed to score the Presidential Suite in the hotel, which was fully decked with snacks, booze, entertainment and wicked good times. Big props to them putting on another great event!

During the next evening was the Atlassian Summit Bash, held at Jillian’s Pub. Atlassian rented the whole bar and supplied all you can eat burgers, fries and fajitas! Of course there was an open bar, in addition to billiards, poker and a Rock Band tournament. This was a great opportunity to meet customers and partners in a casual environment. Needless to say there were some ill people at the office the next day!

On Thursday I had the opportunity to staff the AtlasBar. This was Atlassian’s homage to Apple’s Genius Bar, which provides the opportunity for customers to ask questions to the experts on our various products. It was cool to get feedback from real customers and help solve their problems. I remember asking questions as a customer last year, so it was great to be on the other side!

For those who may have missed it, we have posted every single presentation online for your viewing pleasure. I highly recommend checking out the Keynote embedded below to get an idea of what’s in store for Atlassian in the coming year: